Balance
by ShannonL
Summary: Set six years after Darkness Rising, the Digidestined are living peaceful, happy lives. Then one *explosive* event throws everything out of whack...
1. And so it begins...again

No, I don't own Digimon; Toei, Bandai and Saban do. This fic is only being done for entertainment purposes only, and I don't earn one red cent doing this. This fic, and the entire series has an Out of Character Alert, violence alert (there is a reason this is PG-13), and has eventually these pairings: Taiora, Mimoe, and Takari in it. If these couple pairings aren't your taste, don't scream at me, because you've been warned. One other pairing will be announced later but it would give away the plot if I told you now. This takes place six years after my Darkness Rising saga and it is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED you read that before you read this, because a lot of things are mentioned in here, are explained there. The Digidestined having powers, Source and the merged Digiworld and Earth for one (I'm just going to call the merged worlds "DigiEarth" after this point.). 

All flames will be feed to my furnace. 

Balance, Act 1

"Is all in readiness Aruramon?" a feminine voice drawled from the shadows.

"Yes Mistress." quivered the small, plant-like rookie. Aruramon could just make out the blurry form of her mistress. She was seated besides what Aruramon knew to be a chess set, occasionally moving pieces as she furrowed her brow in thought, no doubt thinking up devious new strategies to use in the game she played against seemingly no one.

"It better be Aruramon!" snapped a harsh male voice. "There must be no mistakes, or Source will have our heads for this." Aruramon shivered slightly. If there was one thing she feared more than her mistress, it was her human companion. Her mistress would never do anything without some reason in mind but he was chaotic and spontaneous. He would destroy anything that even shuddered in his presence, with no provocation at all. Truly dangerous. 

"Calm down Koda, if we panic for nothing, then we certainly shall fail." She moved another piece, eyeing the board with keen interest. " And we all know what failure brings."

"Still…" Koda said thoughtfully, "I don't know why we are wasting all our time and resources on this risky plan of yours, Karmeramon. Wouldn't it be easier to wipe them all out together? With the element of surprise it is…" 

"Impossible." Karmeramon said flatly. "The Digidestined are indescribably strong together. Any head on attack would be fruitless and wasteful. No, the only chance we have is if we can destroy the ties that bind them all together. Then the balance of power will shift – to us! Divide and conquer, my dear Koda, divide and conquer."

She picked up one of the figures and studied it. The dim light gleamed off the bronze figure's spiky hair, and the tiny laptop it carried on its back. Then she placed it back on the board, where now eight tiny bronze children and eight tiny bronze digimon, faced a sinister army cast in silver. Aruramon, forgotten, watched in silence as she moved a silver figure forward.

"Now…" she whispered, "Now Digidestined, it's your move…"

"Hey Izzy, where you going?" A tall blond haired boy with startling blue eyes called out. He raced up to an even taller boy with spiky red hair, who was cradling a laptop protectively in his arms as he hurried down the street. Izzy however stopped when the boy managed to catch up with him, and glanced down at the blond kid with an expression of warmth.

"Hello Tk. I am currently proceeding to the computer repair shop to have a new battery installed in my computer and to have my software upgraded. Then I'm getting something to eat. Perhaps you would like to come with me and update me on everything that has been happening." Izzy smiled down at Tk, "How does that sound?"

"Great!" Tk began to walk with Izzy slowly towards a small shop with a striped yellow awning and a few shrubs planted out front. "Hey did you hear about Joe? He managed to snag that new job down at the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center. He and Gomamon are going to study the local marine ecosystem. Neat, huh?"

"That is good news. But why is Gomamon going?" Izzy asked with a raised eyebrow. Last time he heard, Gomamon hadn't gotten any degrees in marine biology.

"Gomamon's going along because of his affinity to sea creatures and because he knows a lot about all the Digimon that live in the ocean. It's pretty cool that he gets to do all this neat stuff. I'm still in school."

"Not for long I take it. You're graduating this year, are you not?" He looked at Tk expectantly, and grinned. "You've asked Kari to the prom yet?"

Seeing Tk's slightly horrified expression and guessing that his theory on the state of their relationship was correct, he continued, " It was obvious. You two sneaking off together whenever our backs were seemingly turned, and the perfumed love notes Kari was giving to…"

"How did you know about the letters!" Tk cried in a strangled voice, going very red. "Kari and I never told anyone!"

"Tai delivered a few of them to your apartment for Kari. She said that they were urgent homework assignments that you somehow forgot, but Tai could smell the Eau de Cologne on them, and easily deduced what they truly were. So you didn't answer my question. Are you or are you not going to the prom with Kari?" 

Tk's face was burning with embarrassment from being found so easily out as he answered "Yes". He opened the door to the computer repair shop and ushered Izzy inside. Thirty minutes later, with the improved laptop on his back, Izzy led the way to a small café that he frequented regularly. He grabbed a table on the patio, and sat down.

Tk came back with a basket of warm cinnamon buns, their warm, sweet odour wafting in Izzy's face and making his mouth water. Tk placed them gently down onto the table and said…

"If you'll excuse me, I need to use the facilities…" He paused in thought for a moment and then wickedly smirked, "They're waiting for you at the counter. I told them, that _you_ wanted to pay the bill."

"But I said no such thing!"

But he was already gone. Muttering all the way to the cash register, Izzy grabbed his debit card and paid the man who was waiting impatiently there.

A flash of movement caught his eye. A girl with short white hair and milky pale skin was creeping towards the basket of warm cinnamon buns placed unattended their table. Then quick as lightening, she grabbed the basket and bolted down the street.

"Hey, those are _my_ buns!"

Izzy charged after her, leaping over a railing and nearly bowling over Tk, just returned from the washrooms, in the process. Tk looked utterly confused, but joined in the chase anyway. 

"Hey Izzy! Where's the fire?!" Tk shouted as he ran after him, swerving to avoid a few pedestrians. 

"That girl I'm chasing…" Izzy yelled, "…just stole all our food!"

"What?! Why?"

"I have no clue…Wait! She turned down this alley!" Izzy sprinted down a side street, into a dark and musty corridor. He slowed, and warily looked around. The alleyway was deserted except for a few Micemon scurrying away into the shadows.

"Jeez, I haven't done this much running since the old days in the Digiworld!" Tk panted as he came up behind him. "Where'd she go anyway?"

"Nowhere. She's here somewhere. All I have to do is find her." Izzy began to search for her presence with his mind…

BOOM!

A sound like a crack of thunder rocked the surroundings, follow by what felt like a small earthquake. A wisp of smoke could be seen rising lazily from the direction of the café. _I don't like the look of this!_ Izzy thought as he fought down the urge to shake. Everything suddenly felt wrong, out of balance. He was possessed with a sense of foreboding, that this was only the beginning of something even bigger. Though what that something was, he could even grasp at yet.

It just felt so _bad_.

"Umm…Izzy? Let's just forget about the girl, okay? I've got a real bad feeling about this." Tk said hurriedly, glancing anxiously back at the smoke. He was sweating profusely and was white as a sheet. Which scared Izzy even more. Tk usually was one of the calmest of the Digidestined, when confronted with this kind of situation. It took a lot to spook him. _Which means that somehow this is worse than I thought._ "Besides, we can always get more cinnamon buns."

"Yeah, you're right. Let's get out of here." He turned on his heel and began running the other way, Tk one step behind, towards the cloud of smoke. The heels of their shoes clicked against the pavement, masked by the squeals and howling of ambulances, fire trucks, and police cabs as they roared by in a flash of light and sound. Everywhere there was panic. People and Digimon alike were racing around, hiding, and giving each other looks of the deepest suspicion and fear. No doubt they wondered which side had been responsible for _whatever_ had happened. 

The answer lay on the other side of a ragged crowd that was ringing the place where the café should have been.

Izzy and Tk's mouths literally hit the concrete in shock. There was nothing left – absolutely nothing! Just a scorched pit, and a few crumbled bricks. Nothing that would have suggested that only ten minutes ago, there had been a thriving business, full of people relaxing and doing nothing more offensive than having a late lunch.

Izzy began to shiver and saw Tk do the same. It had grown very cold all of a sudden, despite it being 20° Celsius out. If that girl hadn't had stolen their cinnamon buns, and they hadn't had chased her…He shivered again. It felt if someone had walked over his grave. He dazedly grabbed Tk's arm and pulled him from the horrific sight before him.

"Umm, we better go tell the others." He said numbly to Tk. Tk nodded silently, keeping his azure eyes locked on the ground. Izzy grabbed Tk by the shoulders, and shook him slightly. "You alright?"

Tk looked up, his face sallow and beaded with sweat. "Not really. We almost DIED!" he sobbed loudly. Then realizing he was in a mob and lowered his voice to a barely palpable whisper, "We almost died again. And this time, this time, there was _no_ coming back!" 

"I know." Their first deaths and what happened after that, were nothing Izzy liked to think about. He dreamt about it far too often. _How Matt pulled off that miracle, none of us will know. Fate was certainly smiling on us **that** day._ Izzy gave a weary sigh. Nothing appealed to him more now than vegging out with a little Internet surfing, and forgetting that the day's events had actually happened. Not like that was likely to happen anyway. 

Half leading, half-dragging Tk through the crowd of shell shocked onlookers; Izzy managed to lead him to an isolated spot where no one could see them. He sighed and patted Tk on the back, just like Matt would have done in this situation. Izzy knelt down and looked Tk in his reddened eyes, and gave a reassuring smile.

"Hey Tk, it's going to be all right. We'll find whoever did this and set things right. But right now, it's best if we go to Matt and the others. They've bound to have heard about this by now. I don't think Matt needs to worry about you even more."

"Yeah…" Tk said somewhat distantly. "I guess we better teleport out, huh?"

"Yeah…"

The two's faces contorted in concentration and then without warning, they just vanished into thin air. And through it all, a pair of pale green eyes watched…and contemplated. 

On a rooftop just above the spot where the two Digidestined made their exit, a figure with short, spiky white hair paced in thought. Large, unnaturally pale green eyes flicked restlessly side to side, taking in the crater, the crowds, the surrounding rooftops, everything in one clean sweep. Those eyes kept falling on the spot where Izzy and Tk had disappeared. _How do two people simply melt into thin air?_ Clearly they weren't your ordinary, everyday breed of coffee sipping streetwalkers but something much more… something that had a name both revered and feared by the myriad kinds of Digimon she had met over the years.

Digidestined.

She winced at the sudden resurgence of the memory of a wild tale told by the street Digimon. That each of these "Digidestined" had incredible powers, only rivaled by the strongest of Mega Digimon. Together, they were said to be unstoppable. It was rumored that they could control the forces of life, move objects by telekinethis, even…

Even disappear into thin air.

_Damn! I **just** had to steal a Digidestined's food! Oh boy, am I ever in for it now! _ She fumbled in her pocket for a cigarette. Shakily she held it up to her lips, and struck a match. Once lit, she took a long hard drag. As the nicotine raced through her veins like an out of control freight train, she began to relax visibly. After a few puffs, she began to pace restlessly again. She _still_ couldn't believe that what just happened, happened. How could any sane person?

Her gaze sharpened on the police combing through the cinders. _A little too late to do anything, eh, boys? Why don't you just go back to your regular routine of stuffing your faces with jelly donuts and bear claws? This is way out of your league._ Besides if they couldn't catch a little old street thief like her, what hope would they have of nabbing the real culprits. _Still, I'm in no mood for a street race. I might as well get out of here before one of them has the bright idea of coming up here and searching the rooftops. Ah well…_

She stooped to gather the basket of cinnamon buns, lying unattended at her feet and froze. She was not alone! In one fluid motion, she spun for the shadows and yanked two wickedly sharp, three pronged _si_ knives from their hiding place underher torn shirt. Cloaked in darkness, she positioned her blades ready for attack, and waited.

The girl didn't have to wait long for whatever it was she sensed to show itself. Two figures appeared on the rooftop next to her and walked to the edge. She sifted slightly to get a better look at the duo, praying to whatever gods that would listen that she wouldn't be seen. Apparently her prayers were answered, as they seemed to take no notice of her presence. Or they just thought she was insignificant and they couldn't be bothered to confront her. Either way it was a stroke of luck.

The one that appeared to be female, clenched her fist tightly and made a gesture of unmistakable anger at the crater, causing her long violet hair to fly violently out behind her. She pointed at the police, then at an alleyway just beyond the ring of onlookers. The girl followed the mysterious woman's point and was shocked to see a tail or more accurately _tails_ tipped with large, tropical looking flowers, disappear into the shadows. 

_What's going on…?_

The man with her grabbed her by the wrist and gave her a hard shake. His emerald eyes narrowed, and he slowly, deliberately, shook his head. No. It wasn't hard to figure out that the violet haired woman wanted to go after the _thing_ in the alley, but her brown haired companion had other ideas. What those ideas were, were up to debate. Suddenly the green eyed one stiffened. He looked wildly about, while saying something to his friend that caused her to do the same thing. _Uh oh, I think they're on to me…_Her eyes hardened to jade. If she had to fight, then so be it. _Oh well…I haven't been in a good brawl for ages._

Instead they just vanished. _Well, that's a fine howdy do…People disappearing right in front of me twice in one day. What did I do to deserve this?_ She groaned mentally. The answer to that question was too obvious. But the people on the rooftop had her real attention. _Could they be Digidestined as well?_ Probably. She kicked the hard rooftop asphalt and winced._ Can things get **any** weirder?_

As if on cue, it began to softly snow.

"I HAD to ask, didn't I!!!!!"

"You FAILED Gerinmon!" howled Aruramon, lashing her tails in panic. "When Masters Karmeramon and Koda hear of this, we're as good as deleted. You _know_ how they tolerate failure."

Gerinmon looked sullenly at Aruramon. "How was I supposed to know that those two had left? How was I supposed to know that, that little wench had stolen their food and they had chased after her? How was _I_ supposed to know when nobody had the forethought to tell me that my targets weren't even there? Tell me THAT!"

Aruramon looked curiously at her fiery companion, all traces of her former panic gone. "What wench?"

A derisive snort was her answer. " A human girl, about seventeen years old. Pale skin. White hair. Green eyes. She looked homeless from what one of our sources tell me. Feh, why do you care anyway?"

"She might just be our ticket to redemption."

"And just what do you mean by _that_?"

"Think about it! We can put the blame squarely on her. We'll say she warned off the Digidestined humans after beating the information out of one of our lookouts before deleting him. And…and…we didn't find out till too late. So our masters will waste their time chasing after her, and we get to keep our lives."

Gerinmon rolled his dark eyes, "That's if they believe us. Which they probably won't. Not with that story anyway."

"Well…" Aruramon was cut off as Gerinmon gave a howl of pain as snowflake after snowflake drifted down and nestled against his lava like skin. Small puffs of steam rose from wherever an ice crystal touched. She gave a sympathetic wince. Water in any form, was like Sulfuric acid to the fiery Digimon. It made her glad she wasn't a vulnerable elemental type like him.

"Come on," she commanded brusquely, "We can talk about this later. Let's first get you some shelter."

As they left, she couldn't help thinking, _Snow? In June? What the hell is going on here?_

__

"TK!!! My God, what happened!" Matt screamed as he grabbed his pale brother and wrapped him in a tight bear hug. Tk could only stare dazedly back and mouth the word "explosion". For Matt this was all the confirmation he needed to connect this to what he'd seen on playing on the news nonstop. His eyes widened and he turned to Izzy in horror. He whispered, "Were you there?" and Izzy silently nodded. He opened his mouth to ask exactly how the two had been involved in it, but a loud crashing on the balcony door stopped all that. He ran to the door to find a frantic Tentomon and Patamon fighting tooth and nail to get to their respective partners. 

"Izzy! You could have been killed and I wasn't there to protect you. I feel so horrible…"

"Tk! Tk! Speak to me! What's the matter? Why won't you talk?"

"He's in shock Patamon. Better stop hugging him so hard so I can get a look at him." A new voice said from the corner of the room.

"Joe! Mimi! Gomamon! Palmon! I'm glad you're here. Everything just turned upside down. I don't know what to make of it!" Matt said, visibly relieved. At least with Joe here, they had someone with enough medical knowledge to treat Tk.

"We know." Mimi said softly. She began to stroke a bundle cradled in her arms. "We heard it on the evening news at home." The light faintly glinted off her wedding ring as she began to softly sing to whatever was in her arms. Her bundle then squirmed a bit and cooed as she continued with her lullaby.

Matt's jaw dropped open, as he stared sharply at what lay in Mrs. Kido's arms. "Mimi, is that what I _think_ it is!"

"Yes Matt, it is." She pulled back the blanket shrouding it, and reveled a tiny infant with large, expressive dusky eyes. "Her name is Raine. Raine, say hi to your Uncles Matt, Tk, Izzy, Patamon, Tentomon and Gabumon." She waved her free hand to indicate Gabumon, who had just walked in after a good nap, and now was standing wide eyed at the very crowded apartment, and more noticeably at Raine, now sleeping peacefully in her mother's arms. He gave a quizzical look at Matt and asked…

"I'm now an uncle? Matt, what's an uncle?"

"Yeah!" Patamon and Tentomon chimed in.

Izzy couldn't help chuckling despite the gravity of the situation, and launched into, along with Matt, a concise explanation of human family relationships. When done, all three Digimon looked at them in amazement.

"But we're not related to Mimi and Joe by blood. We're not even related by species! How can we be Raine's uncles?" Tentomon stated.

"We've been through so much together that I can't think of you guys of anything else than family" Joe said, from his post by Tk. He had laid him on Matt's ratty couch, elevated his feet, covered him with a blanket and was now talking to him softly, monitoring his pulse and swabbing his forehead. "It doesn't matter if we're related by blood and species or not. The bond we all share is just as strong, if not stronger!"

Kari appeared on Matt's balcony with Gatomon in tow. She called out as she let herself in, "Have you seen outside, it's going crazy. Snow in the middle of June! And everyone is acting just like the weather. People are panicking because of the terrorist bombing of the café, and it's chaos down there. Can you believe it?"

"I can believe it…" Izzy sighed, "…'cause I was there. It's hard not to believe what you can see with your own eyes."

"WHAT!!!" Kari and Gatomon shrieked.

"Would you two keep it down. Tk can't handle people screaming in his ear right now. He needs to rest a bit." Joe loudly whispered to the two, annoyance evident in his tone. Then he turned to Gomamon. "Would you please get me some warm chicken soup. Tk's well enough to have some, and I don't want him getting dehydrated on us."

"Right away Joe." Gomamon said as he scampered off to Matt's tiny kitchen, and began pulling pots out of a cupboard.

"What's the matter with him?" Kari asked softly, as she lent down to kiss Tk on the forehead.

"Shock." Was the matter of fact response.

"Hey Kari…" Tk weakly said, "I'd thought I'd died for a while, since I was being kissed by an angel. Guess I was half right…that angel just came down to earth, that's all…"

"Awwww…"

"Where's Tai, Sora, Biyomon and Agumon? They should be here by now. This is serious! Who knows what the repercussions of the bombing could be?" Matt asked worried. "We should all be here for this."

"I concur. Though I'm not sure it was a bombing. There was almost no debris. Just a blackened pit. Pipe bombs and such, tend to be messier than that. It looks like the aftermath of a Digimon's attack, given the high degree of vaporization."

"Are you _sure_."

"Positive."

"This changes everything…" Matt trailed off. He hurried over to where his cell phone was laying. He began hurriedly punching buttons as he said, "If what you say is true, then we're going to need them more than ever!"

He was answered however by the bland tone of the operator informing him that the number his was trying to reach had been disconnected.

"DAMN!"

"Ssshhhh!" Joe chided; motioning to Tk who was now being fed chicken soup by Kari. Then in a softer voice he said, "What's the matter?"

"Their phone is dead. I _can't_ reach them." He pounded his fist on his coffee table in frustration.

"I'll get them. I'm locking onto their presence as we speak." Izzy said, concentrating deeply.

"Good…" Matt stared out the window and watched the snow as it spiraled down lazily amid the neon lights of Odiaba. It was kinda pretty, but it was _wrong_. All wrong. Something was building, something horrible was coming, and it wouldn't fall on them as softly as this summer snow. Matt shivered, and it was not from the cold. The trailing snowflakes heralded the arrival of evil, and the frustrating thing was, he didn't even know what it was.

_Clink_

The two champagne glasses chimed together as the couple locked together in a passionate kiss. The man slipped a golden ring set with a sparkling diamond on his ladylove's finger, and mused about just how symbolic that diamond was. It seemed to him that, that diamond represented all their hopes and dreams, glittering just as brightly, and lasting just as long as forever. _And I'll make sure they'll last forever._

"Tai, this is a great idea you had. A romantic evening; no distractions,…" Sora made a sweeping motion with one arm, indicating the disconnected telephone, "… music, and it's just the two of us. Well just the four of us, but Agumon and Biyomon are worn out from our trip to the carnival." She smiled warmly at the two Digimon sleeping, entwined in each other's arms (Or in Biyomon's case, wings.) while sitting on Tai's couch.

"And the evening isn't over yet my love." Tai said, taking his fiancée's arm, and leading her out to the center of the room, "In fact it's just begun". Sora giggled as he swung her into a dance position in time with the softly playing music. A slow, sensuous song began, and they started to sway in harmony, dancing blissfully amid a backdrop of Odiaba's neon lights and a swirl of delicate snowflakes.

They were oblivious to everything around them until Sora's rumbling stomach snapped them rudely back to reality. A slow blush spread across her cheeks, and Tai raised an eyebrow.

"Are you hungry?"

"A bit."

"What would the lady like?" Tai said, putting on his best corny French waiter accent.

Sora snorted a little in amusement, and then put her finger to her cheek as if she was in deep thought. Her eyes glittered mischievously and her lips curved into a wicked smile. "Waiter, I think I'll have…Tai food tonight." and began delicately nibbling on his ear. 

Tai laughed and pulled Sora into a deep kiss, that by all rights should have set the whole planet on fire in its intensity, as well as a big chunk of the galaxy too. When they finally broke apart, it was not because they had to come up air, but because someone was repetitively tapping them on the shoulder.

"Izzy…ah…what…em…are…eh…you..?" Tai stammered incoherently while he and Sora turned matching shades of lobster red.

"Getting you. Something has come up and we need everybody to address it."

"Couldn't it have _waited!_" Sora and Tai shared similar disappointed looks. What a way to kill the mood!

"No."

Sighing heavily, they went to wake their Digimon, while shooting Izzy venomous looks. Each of them grumbled as they were woken up. They shared a meaningful look. They would have to talk to Izzy later about the virtues of good timing.

"I can't believe it!" Sora said, shocked.

"Believe it. It happened. Now the big question is, what are we going to do about it?" Izzy sighed. _And what's going to happen while we sit around trying to decide?_

"I still find it hard to believe that a Digimon is responsible for this. What possible motive could he have for attacking a café of all things?" Tai wondered while scratching his head. "Why?"

"Maybe he just didn't like the food there." Gomamon quipped.

"Come on Gomamon, this is serious." Agumon chided. He rubbed one green eye with one claw. Everyone could see that he was exhausted, and only through a valiant effort was he managing to stay awake.

"Perhaps it had something to do with Izzy and Tk being there. I bet a lot of evil Digimon would just love all the glory that would come with knocking of a Digidestined."

"Perhaps…"

"Look this is getting us nowhere fast. Let's turn on the news and see what they have to say about it." Mimi said as she reached for Matt's remote and clicked on the TV. She settled back and took back Raine from her "Auntie" Palmon and began to feed her a bottle she specially prepared.

None of them were prepared for what they saw.

"Citizens of Japan, presenting the honorable Shoji Koda to speak on the menace that has threatened us for some time." A newscaster intoned, seemingly staring intently at all of them.

"Koda…" The way Joe said it sounded like it was worse then slime itself.

"Who's Koda?" asked Matt.

"Someone who belongs in the sewer system than on the political stage. He's in favor of locking up every Digimon in interment camps just because he's blinded by his own lousy prejudice. Stupid bigot." Joe clenched his fist. "I rather lock _him_ up!"

"But he hasn't done anything…I think." Sora protested. She had never seen Joe like this. Frankly it scared the heck out of her!

"That we know of, Sora" he muttered darkly. "That we know of."

"My fellow people…" Koda began, his visage filling the entire screen. "The menace of the Digimon has plagued us for too long. Ever since Myotismon reigned in terror over Tokyo, we have seen Digimon are not to be trusted. And today we were proven right once again. Today a small, urban café was destroyed and more than twenty people lost their lives…" Something in his eyes told everyone that he knew more, much more, than he was letting on. Joe made a scowl of disgust at the screen, and clenched his fist once again. It was clear he _really _hated him. "…And so, in response to this tragedy, I have decided to run for Prime Minister of Japan. My people, this will not go unanswered. That I promise you…" The screen went dead.

"Sorry, I couldn't stand it any longer." Mimi said quietly. "He was really getting on my nerves."

"He was getting on all our nerves Mimi. Can you believe the gall of this guy?" Tai asked.

"After hearing that, how could I not. But seriously what are we going to do about this? This Koda business raises this to a whole new level, a level I don't know we can deal with." Sora said, casting a concerned look at Joe, who was still fuming in a corner.

"I don't know Sora. I just don't know."

To be continued….

So what exactly is Koda and Karmeramon's twisted relationship? Why does Joe hate Koda so much? Who are the mysterious duo? And who is the white haired girl and what relevance does she have? All this and more in Balance, Act 2.

So what did you think? Did you like it or not? Either way the next one won't be out for a while. Schoolwork is just too heavy to allow that.

ShannonL


	2. Enigma

Gabumon: Where is she? She's supposed to say her disclaimer, and announce her little contest, and give out her warnings.

Gomamon: She's over there…

Gabumon: What is she doing?!

Gomamon: What do you think? She's been dreaming about her trip to New Orleans and the welcome escape from the mundane presence of school, bratty siblings, and the general bad weather ever since she got her travel plans approved.

Mmm… sun, jazz…hot Cajun boys ~ drools ~…I'm so there… 

Gabumon: We've got to snap her out of it, but how…?

Gomamon: Just leave it to me.

Gabumon: ~ sweatdrops ~ I have a bad feeling about this. ShannonL warned us that if we misbehave she would torture one of the Digidestined. 

Ahhhh!!!

Gomamon: Okay, she's out of internal fantasy mode now…

Gabumon: What did you do to her?

Gomamon: Told her that her little brother stole all of her favorite Java coffee. And reminded her that she has an introduction to do.

Gabumon: She'll go berserk for sure when she finds out that _we_ used it all up in that wild party you threw. Not to mention that you set her up on a blind date with _Myotismon_!

Gomamon: Ssshhh…She's starting!

I have a confession to make, a really big one. I don't own Digimon ~ gasp ~ Toei, Saban and Bandai do. As I said in Balance, Act 1, violence, mayhem, language, Out Of Characterness (OOC), homemade, low operating explosives, and Taiora, Mimoe, Takari and another pairing (I'm still not telling, but look for it. I'm giving hints, and whoever first guesses correctly gets a cameo.), abound in this series. If any of you can't handle that or if just hate the pairings (And I know some of you _really_ do.) don't bother yelling and screaming and sicking your muses on me because I warned you. Please use discretion, this is PG-13 and let me warn you right now that later on in the series, things will get real intense. Also it is HIGHLY advised that you read Darkness Rising and the first act of Balance or you will have _no_ clue at all about what's going on here.

All flames, as always, will be fed to my furnace. 

Balance, Act 2

"What _happened_ down there Cody?" A masculine voice howled as its owner paced back and forth, his spiky reddish-brown hair swaying ever so slightly.

"We suspect it was an attack by one or more Digimon, Davis. Yolei and I saw a suspicious plant Digimon disappear from the scene but before we could chase after it, we got the feeling of being watched…"

"Watched? By who?" A man with wavy, shoulder length blond hair and blue eyes, gave a concerned wince. Cody had expected as much. With everything that had been going on, this added another twist in the already tangled web woven by the situation. He had every right to be to be worried. 

"I really don't know…"_And I don't know if I want to know._ "One moment I was about to go after that Digimon, then we were hit by that weird presence. It wasn't Digimon, it didn't have that _right_ feel about it, but it seemed too powerful to be any mere human. I've never _ever_ felt anything like it. I'm glad you had Armadillomon and Hawkmon contact us through our respective links, Michael…" Cody clenched his fist as purple and orange power began to crackle around it. "Whatever it was, it felt like death."

Clear from the expressions from all others present, that was not the most comforting thing to say.

"Could it have been another Digidestined?" a soft voice asked from the shadows. Pale blue eyes flickered as Davis slumped a bit, pain and sorrow evident in his eyes. Something akin to memory was dancing around in those cinnamon depths, slashing and tearing every bit of self-control Davis possessed. _Uh oh._ Cody decided to break in before whatever was haunting Davis was allowed to do too much damage.

"No, couldn't have been. We're connected to life; this _thing_ was connected to death. Rest assured Davis, it wasn't a Digidestined, and certainly not the Digidestined you're thinking about."

Davis sighed a bit in relief and allowed the blue eyed speaker to gently support him and lead him to a dusty couch in the corner. He gasped, "Thanks Ken." and buried his face in his hands. Ken sat down besides him, and began talking to him in soft, soothing tones. _He still must not be over it;_ Cody mused to himself, _Course, if I'd been in that position that he was in, and **that** situation had occurred to me, **I** certainly wouldn't be alright either. No one deserves to have that happen to him, no one._

"Cody?"

"Yes Yolei?"

"Get over here. You _won't _believe what's going on out here!"

Cody shrugged a bit and made his way over to where Yolei was standing, besides an open warehouse door. What he saw made his jaw drop in disbelief. 

"Oh yeah Yolei, you're right. I'm seeing it, but I am not _believing_ it!" Cody said amazed, while scratching his head a bit. He unconsciously leaned on the Kendo sword he always carried. _This is wrong; this is just plain WRONG! _There was absolutely no logical, rational explanation for what he was seeing!

"Believe it Cody. It is _snowing_!"

At that very moment, across the Odiaba district, the very person who had been the subject of such heated debate among the rogue Digidestined was swiftly making her way towards a place simply known as "the Underground". Gracefully making her way under some steel girders, she stole into the vast underground chamber that was work, fun, and generally home, to most of the "homeless" of Odiaba.

As she passed a withered, troll-like Digimon; he roughly called out to her, "Sanari Matsudaira, you know the rules. No entering the Underground without paying tribute to our lord and master, Serpimon; not unless you want to leave this place as nothing more than Digital Dust!"

Muttering a few choice comments under her breath, Sanari paid off the Digimon with a gold necklace she pilfered from some unsuspecting rich broad. Troll face looked appraisingly at the ornate necklace then at the irate Sanari, whose hands were creeping towards her _si_ knives, and then with a regretful sneer, motioned her through.

_Stupid Troll face, if Serpimon wasn't around, I'd turn **you** into Digital dust. Things are bad enough as it is; I don't need your sniveling, servile ass on my case right now._ She shuddered internally; where had those thoughts come from? Sanari brushed a few locks of white hair from her eyes, not noticing the faint glow coming from her fingertips. She was a little more concerned with what she was becoming. _What's happening to me?!_ Ever since she stole the food from the two Digidestined boys, she had felt strange changes begin to work themselves in her, altering parts of her in way even _she_ couldn't understand. Frankly it was scaring her. _Why is this happening to me? Why me? I don't understand…_

"Hey San, what's skanking?" A cold cruel voice called from the shadows.

_Oh great, just the way to make a bad day even worse._ "Terla, I don't need or want to deal with you right now so do everyone a favor and take a hike! Maybe then everybody would loosen up around here."

Terla just laughed, a _very_ sadistic smile curving her lips. Her perfect doll's features turned frosty and she delivered a slap that sent Sanari's ears ringing. Sanari's hands flew, and before either she or Terla knew it, a set of razor sharp tri-blades were positioned millimeters above Terla jugular. If she so much as twitched, the Underground would have one less jaded character running about it.

"BITCH! If you dare touch me, Serpimon himself will see that you finally get the death you deserve!" Sanari felt her veins burn with raw, untapped energy, and seethed at the thought that she couldn't release it on the one she hated most. At the same time, she felt a little part of her cringe at the sheer maliciousness of the thoughts running rampant in her head. She felt her _si_ lower a bit, and watched as Terla pulled away.

"Glad you finally came to your senses. I think we should have a talk about who out ranks who in the social pecking order around here, when you're feeling a little more sociable…what the… HELL IS WRONG WITH YOUR EYES! "

She had one shaking finger pointing at Sanari, or more accurately her eyes. Usually a pale green with flecks of gold, Sanari's eyes burned like foxfire, and everything and every_one_ that fell in her gaze seemed to simply crumple into a pile of cinders.

"I _told_ you I _don't_ want to deal with you right now…" Sanari hissed in a low voice.

Terla turned and ran, stumbling over discarded beer bottles, and disappeared into a curtained off corridor. Sanari gave a snort of disgust. _Coward!!!_ She slipped the _si_ into the weapons harness hidden under the shirt. They came right back out as she noticed the multitudes of eyes still staring at her with expressions ranging all the way from fear, to hate, to pity. At that moment, something inside Sanari just snapped, and before she could stop herself, she roared, "WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT?!"

Not even registering the shocked faces of all around her, she whirled and half ran, half flew out of the main cavern, and climbed into the tunnels that connected to the subway system. Sanari raced down a labyrinth of alleyways and crawled through several maintenance shafts and into a small dead-ended passage, which served as a place where Sanari could kick back without too much worry that she would be killed in her sleep. She threw herself on her "bed", a ragged heap of dirty pillows and blankets, and began to weep. She raised red eyes to the ceiling and asked in a small voice…

"What have I become?"

"Master Koda, where is Mistress Karmeramon? We thought…" Aruramon broke of as she saw the stare from Koda's eyes. Madness and malevolence made their home in those ruby orbs, and she took his gaze as the unspoken warning to shut up as it was. Humbly she lowered her face to the floor and waited for the fiendish onslaught of Koda's rage to fall upon all present in the room. But nothing came. Curious, she rolled one eye in the direction of her master, tapping his fingers on Karmeramon's chess board as he bit his lip in thought, and the other in direction of Gerinmon, the fiery Champion Digimon. He was kneeling in fear as well, his face staring resolutely at the floor. He looked like he was going to throw up. Not surprising, considering the way Koda tolerated failure.

"You thought wrong…" Koda replied frostily. He idly picked up one of Karmeramon's pieces, a bronze figure of a young man with glasses and shoulder length hair, and scowled menacingly at it. Aruramon knew only that he and this certain young man shared an unquenchable hatred of each other, though for what reason she had no idea. Koda returned the figure of the Digidestined boy back to behind his Gomamon, and slowly turned to face them. "Why are you still here? If you have something to report, then report it! Otherwise just get out of my sight. I'm not in the mood for company."

Aruramon could just feel her insides turn to mush, as she numbly began to answer, "Master, on the café bombing…"

"What of it? It succeeded quite nicely, if I do say so myself. The humans are rallying behind me, and dissent and prejudices are running rampant. They are totally divided, the fools. When I take over as Prime Minister, the rabble that is left over will have no chance to defeat Karmeramon's and _my_ iron fists. And then, oh and _then_,…" 

"Master, as much as we would love to hear your plans for world conquest at the moment, something has come up that has to be dealt with."

"And what would _that _be?" Koda's eyes narrowed and hardened to the purest ice. Aruramon gulped as she saw this. She could just literally see her life flashing in front of her now.

"The two Digidestined we were supposed to kill…escaped…from the blast we intended for them." 

_I'm dead._

"They _what!!!!_"

"A white-haired wench interfered in our plans and warned them off. And when it was too late to do anything, we found out they were gone. Master…we…tried…" Aruramon paled from her normal, rich, azure to a sickly turquoise. What she said hadn't gone exactly like that, but it was close enough.

Koda looked pale as well. His hands clenched spasmodically into fists, and his breathing was harsh and labored. What disturbed Aruramon most however, were the glowing coals that served for his eyes had dimmed to scattered embers. They were literally swamped with fear! Koda had never shown fear before.

Finally with a shaking breath, he whispered, "Source is _not_ going to like this. Not one little bit."

Source? She had heard the masters mention the name more than once, and was inexplicably sickened with fear and horror each and every time. From what little she knew about this enigmatic "Source", was that it was the source of every nasty, vile and in other words, evil thing and deed, that occurred in this world. Hence the name. Not the most pleasant of characters indeed.

Koda looked them up and down slowly, deliberately. Finally, he said, in a baritone voice that rocked the floorboards and every stone littered in the walls, "Find her. Get rid of her. And if you don't…" He let the threat, no promise, hang heavy in the air. Nobody had to ask what failing a second time brought. "Leave."

Aruramon and Gerinmon needed no second invitation.

Meanwhile at Matt's apartment…

"Hey Mimi, where did Joe and Raine run off to? I can't find them anywhere. Of course in this pig sty, I wouldn't be surprised if we found them buried underneath the left over pizza boxes or something."

"Hey are you dissing my apartment Izzy?" The irritated blond called out from his kitchen. He had soap bubbles stuck to his spiky hair, and was absently scrubbing a dish while glaring acidly at Izzy. "I don't see you helping out. After all you certainly made your fair share of this mess…" He put down his plate and pointed to the chaos that had been his nice, clean living room. Had been. The place had been utterly totaled after the all the Digidestined and _all_ the Destined Digimon had held what could only be called a council of war after the "bombing" of the café and the resulting speech from the political extremist Shoji Koda. 

"I _have_ been helping out, you know. I've been trying to figure out why in hell Koda, a known human supremacist, would have anything to do with any renegade Digimon, or in that particular case, _any_ Digimon at all. It just doesn't make SENSE!!!"

"Woah, woah, woah Izzy. No need to yell…" Mimi looked around nervously, "…you'll wake everyone up." Everyone glanced worriedly at the various sprawled figures that were littered around sleeping in the next room. After many hours of debate, everyone had succumbed to the fact they could not stay awake forever, no matter _how_ many cups of Java one had to stay awake - everyone except Matt, Mimi, Izzy and Joe.

"Maybe you should get some sleep Izzy. You look like you're about to drop _dead_ from exhaustion." Matt looked at him worriedly. After all he had been through the previous day, and the all nighter everyone had pulled, haggard didn't even come _close_ to describing Izzy. Even Izzy the Invincible, conqueror of a thousand late night study sessions, couldn't fight of the inevitable.

"I will Matt. I just want to know what happen to Joe and Raine. I need to ask Joe a question that's been bugging me all night, and when I went to look for him…"

"He was gone?" Mimi finished. Her lips tightened in a grimace, and suddenly she seemed decades older. "He left for a jog and took Raine with him. He said he need to blow off steam and that the fresh air would do them both some good. I wish…I wish he would bring our daughter home soon. I'm beginning to worry." The tiny catch in her voice made it clear to all present that _that_ was not all she was beginning to worry about.

"What is it Mimi?" Matt asked as Izzy stretched out beside the couch, and shuffled a bit to get into a more comfortable position. Both of them were eyeing the amber-eyed lady with the flaming pink hair with keen interest.

"Well…" Mimi sighed a bit, "Well…Joe has been acting more than a little weird. I never would have expected that reaction from him - _him_ of all people." She paused for a moment to think of her husband, gentle and kind, fighting to control the raging demon called Hate that had welled up inside of him, the instant that _monster_ had shown up on the screen. "I don't know why Joe feels this way; I don't think they knew each other or something. Joe isn't the type to associate with bigots, zealots and school yard dictators, any more than I'm the type to stoop to buy my clothes at some tacky discount store."

"He'll be back soon, and then we can get through this whole mess. Don't worry about it." Izzy slumped against the couch as he suddenly fell asleep. Matt wasn't far behind as he left his dishwashing, and found a piece of floor that wasn't occupied by human, Digimon or trash. That left Mimi all alone to her thoughts, as she stared out of Matt's balcony window. A snowflake trickled down and she absently traced its path with one finger. All the while she was thinking…

_I wish I could follow your advice Izzy. I really wish I could…_

Michael yawned as he watched the dawn creep over the horizon, trailing streaks of fire and crimson over the sky as it chased the darkness away. _So pretty…The light and the way the colors play over the clouds…I'd never really noticed these things since I came to Odiaba. I've never really had the time. Everything here is so busy, crowded, confusing, and **lonely**. Especially lonely… Sometimes I just feel like I have the word foreigner branded to my forehead with flashing neon signs saying, "Hey you; over here! Easy pickings; come and get it!" Sometimes it feels like I'll never fit in. Man, I wish I were in New York right now. At least there, a major crisis would be dealing with a zit on your forehead or the rush hour traffic, not wading your way through intrigue, plots, and motives, trying to find a reason for this chaos currently going on._ He ran a hand through his wavy blond hair, playing with the ends as he tried to figure out what was going on the battlefield and off it. Suddenly something tweaked his senses and without needing to turn around, he knew he would find his friends behind him.

"Hey Willis, Cody. What are you doing here?"

"Looking for Davis and Ken. It's their turn to cook today. Do you know where they keep disappearing off to?"

"Nah…" came the reply, "No clue where they are…" _But I know what they're probably doing…_ "Have you seen Yolei anywhere? The computer's on the blink again, and she has the tools to fix it." He twisted his head to grin teasingly at them, "Besides, she's awfully cute in the morning…"

This earned a few hearty chuckles from the two behind them. Willis's eyes flashed indigo with amusement, as he put Michael in a headlock and began to give him a friendly noogie, as he giggled, "Oh, so does Mikey have a little crush on Yolei? Aww, I _never_ would have guessed."

Michael laughed as he squirmed out of Willis's grasp. "Come on you guys; you know we're just _friends_. Now seriously, where is she? I need those tools now; I'm missing CNN for Pete's sake!"

Cody snorted a bit. "Isn't that a tragedy?" Then he turned serious. "She's sleeping off the late night we had. We ran into her in the sleeping quarters and she said if anybody disturbed her, she would immediately remove their heads. Personally I think she would back up that threat. In that case, CNN can wait."

Michael opened his mouth to say something, but a loud rumble from his stomach stopped all that. "Maybe I can help you look for them," he said sheepishly, flushing a deep red. He hopped off the ledge he'd been sitting on and joined them. " I'm kinda getting hungry myself."

Laughing, the three disappeared into the air. But one unspoken thought echoed on the breeze.

_Maybe, just maybe, I'm not as alone as I thought…_

"Sanari…Sanari…wakey, wakey…" A voice called, distant at first, then stronger, as Sanari opened one eye, and found herself face to face with a grinning seven year old. Limp teal hair fell over her wide obsidian eyes; a fair dusting of freckles over pale, dull cheeks, and white lips were pulled back into an impish smile. At that smile, Sanari felt an irresistible urge to start smiling too. She couldn't resist the orphan's charm. _Nobody can in fact_ she mused a bit. Of course, it wasn't hard to be charmed by a person who totally looked up to you, and thought you could do absolutely no wrong. _I really wish I could be the person that Marisa thinks I am. Instead I'm someone who nearly knocks off someone just because I lost my temper. Not to say that person wasn't deserving of it…but still…she should have someone better than me to look up to._

"Aw, kid…can't this wait? Sanari has had one looonng day."

"Nope…You've gotta get up." At this Sanari groaned; then rolled over and went back to sleep. However she was rudely snapped back to reality when something pulled off one of her shoes and socks and began ruthlessly tickling the bottom of her foot. 

Between shrieks of laughter, she looked down and saw the imp crouched at the bottom of her foot with a large pink feather poised directly at the tips of her toes. 

"M, what are you doing?" Sanari's eyes widened in horror as Marisa gave a devilish smile and began waving the feather threateningly above her toes.

"Waking you up. You sleep way too much anyway." But before she could begin to tickle her again, Sanari dived of her bed and grabbed her shoe and sock; stumbling as she awkwardly yanked them on. 

"Okay, okay, you win: I'm up." _Not that I would object to a few more hours of sleep - especially since I feel smashed. Ugh. _She shook her head, trying to clear the last vestiges of sleep from her mind. "You hungry?" and without any further comment, Sanari retrieved the cinnamon buns she had stolen from the previous day. She tried to ignore the faint sensation of guilt connected to the deed, rationalizing it as a "steal or you die of starvation" sorta situation. Still it didn't make it right, or did it? She sighed as she tried to figure out that particular little problem.

"Not really hungry, Sanari." Sanari looked at her with concern. Marisa hadn't been eating much recently and whatever she did partake in, she had difficulty keeping it down. _Not like you can take her to the local doc. You don't have enough money for food most of the time, what makes you think you can even afford the physician's waiting room. Ah jeez, what am I gonna do… _

"Are you sure? I mean, these are your favorites…" She looked fondly at the child, whom she had kept an eye out for since the girl was four years old. When Sanari had found her, she had even been without a name, just a beggar girl with sad, lonely eyes. Sanari didn't even know why she even cared at the time. The girl wasn't her problem. Still there had been something about her… So she had dubbed the girl with the name of Marisa, after the woman who had looked after her and taught her how to survive on the streets; and decided to protect, teach and do whatever she could…in order that Marisa grew up happier than Sanari had ever been. _And they have been happy years…for both of us. Hard but happy. Until now…_ Until Marisa had gotten sick.

"So Sanari, I heard you kicked Terla's butt all the way to the Shinjuku district." Marisa's face was eager. She wanted to know all the juicy little details of what happened. And she wouldn't let up until she had.

"Not exactly…" Sanari began. Her face became tense and she kept her luminous green eyes fixed firmly to the cement. The little catfight replayed itself in her head, clear in every nasty little detail. She tried to shake it off, but a little nagging voice told her this wasn't the last of it. No, it was only the beginning. The beginning of everything. _Well that's a nice ominous thought from out of nowhere, isn't it? Just what I get when I only get six or so hours of sleep. Jeez what's next, flying pigs and good government. Aye, I need to get this head of mine debugged. I certainly have a few screws loose up there._

"So? So did the absolute ruler of bitchdom get what was coming to her? Huh? Huh?"

"Marisa! Where did you learn that?!" Sanari was shocked. She had never heard Marisa use that kind of language before and it was kind of unsettling to say the least.

"By watching _you_."

"Ooch. Do us all a favor kid, and don't watch me all the time, 'kay?" 

"Fine. So did she get it or what? And what was up with the glowing eyes and the just plain glowing at the Underground? People are saying things like you're some Digidestined or something…"

"_What? Glowing? **Digidestined**?!_" Sanari began to chuckle, which turned into laughter, which became hysterics. The more she thought about it; hell, the funnier it became. Digidestined? Her? Whoever was telling _that_ particular tale was absolutely delusional, completely psychotic!

"Kiddo, I am a lot of things; some good, some bad, some even I don't know of yet. But of one thing I'm sure. Of all the things I could be, I'm sure as hell not a Digidestined!"

_Man is this a bad area of town or what!_ Joe thought, as he cuddled his daughter while waiting for the light to change. _I'm glad I don't live **here**!_ The light flashed red and Joe walked across, hoisting Raine to a more comfortable position as he strolled. 

Halfway over, he bumped into a pair of men passing through. Joe expected a few insults from them or at least an angry glare from the man with the shoulder length black hair and the glacial eyes, that he had accidentally knocked down. But nothing came. The two men smiled at each other and apologized for not looking where they were going. The brown-eyed guy even picked up the bag with Raine's baby supplies and handed it over to him. Both of them were ever so polite as they left together, arms linked. Joe smiled. _Not many people are like that nowadays… Those two really are a special breed._

Not until Joe was across the street and the men had apparently disappeared somewhere else all together; realization hit and it began to dawn on Joe, that there was something strange about the two he had encountered. Something that just triggered every neuron and fiber in his being, that something wasn't what it seemed…Suddenly a surge of power filled the air, and Joe winced from the intensity. An unsettling idea was working its way out of the back of his mind. _Wait a sec; those two aren't exactly your normal streetwalkers. Normal streetwalkers don't exactly vanish without a trace- especially since there's nowhere to vanish to. _He glanced down the dead ended alleyway that the two had gone down and gasped. _Just like I thought. Guess I was right about them being special; I just didn't know how special they actually were. Hmm, the others will certainly want to know about **this**!_ But before he could go anywhere, a rough hand clasped him on the shoulder.

"Hello Joe. It's been a long time and we have _so_ much to talk about…"

Joe stiffened. He _knew_ that voice. Slowly he whirled around and saw exactly what he knew he see. A tall man with a thatch of spiky blond hair, and eyes…those eyes. Crimson red, haughty eyes, eyes that boiled like magma. Eyes that demanded to be remembered, and eyes Joe desperately wanted to forget. _His_ eyes…Joe unconsciously clutched Raine closer to him, though not in fear, but in rage. Joe's own eyes began to faintly sparkle with black and silver light. _Down Joe, down…you don't want to show your own special abilities to **this** enemy._ But the anger wouldn't back down. It wanted out. And it got it…

__

"KODA!!"

To be continued….

Cliffhanger! What's going to happen now? Or in the words of the much screwed up narrator ~ shudder ~ "What will be the outcome of Joe's confrontation with his arch nemesis. What do the new Digidestined have to do with all this? And who really is this mysterious Sanari? Is she truly a Digidestined? Stay tuned for the next act of Balance for the answers and more." You know, I really hate that guy with a vengeance. Anybody else? 

Moving right along, keep it moving, I apologize for the delay and the lack of action in the first two acts. I just finished doing the setting up for the story and now the intense stuff begins. Hold on tight, the roller coaster ride is about to begin. 

Oh, my Contest. Whoever first guesses correctly my fourth coupling gets a small cameo in the next act of Balance. So be sure to review.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go hunt down my brother. Little thief stole all my favorite Java. ~ Stomps off ~

~ Enter ShannonL's muses ~

Gabumon: She's gonna kill us when she finds out. You _know_ what she'll do! She always keeps her promises.

Gomamon: When her *date* arrives, she'll have her hands so full she'll won't be able to do anything!

Gabumon: I don't know about this…

Gomamon: ~ interrupts ~ Myotismon's here. Aww, that's nice, he brought her roses. Dead roses…but roses… 

~ ShannonL answers her door ~

AAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!


End file.
